The Pod Piper

THE LIST 1. This American Life  - "Before the Next One" This may be the most shocking episode of TAL I've ever encountered, due mostly to the access the podcast giant affords it's listeners to those present during the Parkland High School shooting earlier this year. The scope of the show is appropriately macro, dealing with methods of preventing school shootings or approaching families in the wake of these tragedies, but of course there is an overwhelming intimacy found interlaced between polarizing takes on gun control and arming teachers. Ira and co. keep the partisanship at bay (an admirable or troubling feature of much of the show's recent work, depending on your view) and the humanity of confusion and reckoning at the core of the episode make it one of the year's most compelling pieces.  2. Reply All  - "The Crime Machine, Part 1 & 2" This impressive crime-tinged documentary brings a dujour issue into focus, exploring how the ...

THE LIST 1. The New Yorker Radio Hour  - "The Long-Distance Con, Part 1" What happens when the outward facing charisma and charm of a loved one falls drastically short of the decisions that person makes? We all lie a little, executing some measure of personal skeleton masking, but it turns out that we don't all make a fortune and then blow it all leaving a family behind with nothing except the crippling edifice of wealth and and empty bank account. Oh, and a staggering amount of taped conversations with the man who seemingly conned away the fortune of a once-upon-a-time mogul. I'm totally captivated by this miniseries from the perspective of a daughter making sense of her father's checkered past.  2. Criminal  - "Ten Thousand Feet in the Air" One of the more in-your-face Criminal episodes in recent memory, this affair commemorating the century mark in draws us in with the exploits of a failed airplane hijacker. Apparently at a point in the...

THE LIST 1. HORSE  - "My Dad, The Commissioner" HORSE may be the most delightful surprise I’ve ever encountered in a podcast. It is driven by the culture and history of the pro basketball, both off-court and on, in a way that seems accessible to a wide range of people. Having some background knowledge of the league doesn’t hurt, and indeed my late-90s-early-2000s obsession with all things basketball probably drives my enjoyment of the show. But I’m guessing anyone seeking to earnestly connect with the NBA in a way not readily available in sports media may find their lane here. There are fun recurring segments setup here in the pilot episode, and the host banter is really nice - deviating for personal anecdotes that form a nice middle ground between straight-up reportage and overlong banter..  2. 99% Invisible  - "Billboard Boys: The Greatest Radio Contest of All Time" In a week where I didn’t discover a nostalgia inducing show that I can connect t...

THE LIST 1.  The Bill Simmons Podcast  - "NBA Hall of Famers, KD’s MVP Potential, and Messi vs. Ronaldo With Steve Nash" There is never a bad time to remember the supreme awesomeness that was Steve Nash on a basketball court. With a new NBA season just around the corner (media day starts today with training camp and the preseason following quickly thereafter), bask in the glory of a sports icon dishing on basketball and his forays into the world of pro soccer.  2.  Scene on Radio  - "Warriors (MEN, Part 6)" Hi-Phi Nation  host Barry Lam guest stars in this episode breaking down some seemingly inalienable truths tied to gender in the military. We accept that men are dominant physically, as a whole, but this does not acknowledge the end of spectrums overlapping. Is the strongest woman really weaker than the weakest man? Newsflash: the patriarchy damages men, too. 3.  Serial  - "A Bar Fight Walks into the Justice ...

THE LIST 1. 99% Invisible  - "The House that Came in the Mail" Sears was a progenitor to Amazon...and IKEA. I knew the company once had a well-regarded catalog, but I did not know that it operated campuses in multiple US cities and even bought its own radio frequency. Also, as this episode highlights, Sears actually sold assemble-it-yourself property. For adults. Like, seriously, life-size homes. And a surprising amount are still around! While some of these unique products have stood for over a century and retained the purpose for which they were built, many of the giant regional Sears buildings have since been repurposed as the mail-order business waned. This episode is a fascinating entrypoint to a rabbit hole of googling. Even if you don't have a chance to listen the show, the 99PI website has some excellent photos to peruse (both on the link above and in this additional article focusing on the large plants left dormant after Sears vacated). 2. The New Y...

THE LIST 1. The Dollop  - "Ferguson" This episode was released back in August 2014, but it feels just as relevant and informative four years later. Not surprisingly, this is one of the less humorous Dollop episodes...and probably still the funniest Ferguson-centric piece of media that respectfully considers the origins and manifestations of institutional racism.  2. Hidden Brain  - "Bullshit Jobs" There are jobs that just don't need to exist. Like, a lot of jobs. But isn't a mediocre daily grind better than an overly stressful one? TLDL: psychology says no. Please do L, though, and revel in how good you’ve got it or begin plotting how you can wring purpose out of the superfluous career you’ve chanced upon.. 3. Flash Forward  - "Spawn of Sponcon" Advertising creep is real, and promotional content may soon become nearly indistinguishable from interactions with peers. Would that be so bad? Listen in for a taste of the legal and et...

THE LIST 1. Slow Burn  - "Cred" Paula Jones is a name I've heard many times in relation to Bill Clinton. But I'll be honest, I never really knew how they were connected. This episode tells the story from a couple perspectives, and highlights anti-Clinton players who had complex and evolving ties to the former president. 2. Futility Closet  - "Grover Cleveland's Secret Surgery" Presidents do things in secret. Like have surgery. On a boat. This sort of secret goings-on maybe happens all the time, but the tale of the coverup and the tarnished reputations of those involved were what made this bit of history compelling. 3. Criminal  - "Palace of Justice" The immense scale of World War II has the potential to congeal into one large bygone conflict in the minds of today's youth (including my own flirtations with the past). The Nuremberg Trials, like Paula Jones, were a thing I'd heard a lot about - and for the record I knew...